AUSTRALIANS will receive more high-speed mobile internet access by Christmas after Telstra today announced a plan to increase its 4G coverage to another 200 regional towns by the end of the year.

The company, which became the first to launch 4G in Australia in September 2011, said the upgrade would expand its network to reach 85 per cent of the population, delivered with 1500 more 4G-capable base stations.

The move comes after Vodafone launched a competing 4G network in June that it claims is the fastest in Australia's capital cities - a claim Telstra has asked the company to withdraw.

Telstra chief operations officer Brendon Riley said Telstra's 4G network now reached 66 per cent of the Australian population, but it would extend to 85 per cent this year.

"By Christmas we'll extend that reach and extend the 4G footprint to another 200 regional towns and cities,'' he said.

"The growth (in 4G) is not stopping. 4G traffic is growing at about 23 per cent each month."

Mr Riley said Australians were using 2.1 million 4G devices on its network by March, including 1.4 million 4G smartphones that were responsible for the majority of downloads on the network.

These 4G phones include Apple's iPhone 5, the Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One and Sony Xperia Z. When connected to a 4G network, the handsets can download data at up to five times the speed of a 3G phone.

Mr Riley also defended Telstra's network against Vodafone's claims that it had the fastest 4G network in Australian capital cities, due to the 700 MHz spectrum it used.